Teachers vote to defy ‘hero’ academy head and strike

Teachers in east London are threatening to go on strike if their school is turned into an academy.

Staff at Haggerston school in Hackney are worried it will become a "satellite" of a nearby academy, with the same headteacher looking after both.

More than 80 per cent voted to walk out if the school is taken out of local authority control.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, who was drafted in to act as executive principal at Haggerston last year, is also head of Mossbourne Community Academy. He was described as a "real hero" by Education Secretary Michael Gove for turning the school around.

But teachers at Haggerston fear the school will become an academy when he leaves next April.

Mark Lushington, of the NUT's Hackney branch, said: "We are not in favour of executive heads, where you have a huge all-embracing CEO sitting in a panopticon, seeing everything."

Sir Michael said the school's governors had been impressed with his team's results and would like Mossbourne to support the school "in a more structured way".